10 Weird things you can do to save £7k a year

Plum is a finance savvy chatbot that uses AI to help you manage your money, save, invest, and be better off. In ‘Savings Squad’, we feature all the best tips and tricks to help you make the most of your money. You can also join our Facebook group of people saving with Plum for more tips and advice from real users.

We’ve collected some weird and wonderful ways to save for you and crunched the numbers.

Lots of us are already squeezing every last drop out of our paycheck and can’t see where we could possibly manage to set any savings aside. But, where there’s a will there’s a way.

Sometimes you just need to think outside the box...these ideas might not work for everyone but could save you thousands over a year, £7,387.84 to be exact.

1. Go au natural - £1,120 saved a year

Did you know that Brits spend an average £93.37 a month on hair, beauty and grooming products? If you quit makeup (if Alicia Keys can do it…), stopped shampooing and styling your hair and went right back to basics, you’d be over £1000 a year better off. What's more your skin and hair might be better off for it.

2. Make your own cleaning products - £123.84 saved a year

Save pounds and the planet by going eco friendly and ditching harsh chemicals from your cleaning cupboard. Did you know that vinegar and bicarbonate of soda make a killer oven cleaner? By using things you already have in your cupboards or smart reusable products like microfibre cloths you can keep your house spotless and you savings on track.

The average Brit spends £10.32 a month on cleaning supplies, that's £123.84 a year down the 🚽

3. Be strick with your wardrobe - £960-710.40 saved a year

Hold on, we don’t mean adopt that naturist lifestyle, tempting though it may be. The average person only wears 20% of the stuff in their wardrobe, and the more you have in there, the more you forget what you have. I can't be the only one who has bought something near identitcal to what I already have... Make sure you wear what you have already. If it's not your favourite black top, you will always pick the other one - if you never wear it, sell it!

When stuff actually does wear out, get it mended. It costs a fraction of replacing the item, and you don’t have to go through the drama of finding another pair of jeans you love as much as that pair. If you must replace something, try charity shops. People give away all sorts of goodies that would cost a bomb if you bought them new.

The average UK man spends £100 per month on clothes/shoes with the ladies spending £74 per month. Assuming you only wear 20% of that you could cut that spend to £20/14.80 per month and save £960/710.40 per year 😱 That's before you have even sold any of them...

4. Change nothing at all - £1,000-2,000 saved a year

This all sounds well and good, but what if there was an easier way to save money that didn’t involve becoming all that effort? Well, it's your lucky day. With Plum you can save automatically. No need to budget. No need to change your habits. Harnessing the power of technological wizardry, it’ll monitor your income, bills and spending, work out what you can safely put away and move it into a savings account for you. Saving the average user £1-2,000 a year!

“But what if I need money for a night out, or… something more responsible and grown up?!” we hear you cry. That’s fine! Plum will automatically adjust to your spending patterns, and you’ll have immediate access to the funds in your savings account. So, you can have that splurge when you fancy it safe in the knowledge that you won’t have to get up to any funny business.

5. Pick a bath buddy - £200 saved a year

Did you know that the average annual cost of two people having a daily bath is over £400? That’s money down the drain! Sharing bath water will cut your annual costs in half just like that. If you’re worried about being the one who always gets the sort of cold wash, then just share the tub at the same time. Light a few candles and you've got yourself date night and a saving!

6. Shop from the reduced section - £319.20 saved a year

It’s a well known fact that after a certain time of day, supermarkets will mark up items soon to date expire as reduced and move them to a special section - usually 40-50% off. By lurking suspiciously in the aisles of your local supermarket in the evenings and late at night, you’ll quickly pick up what time the reduced stickers come out and get first refusal on everything going. Lots of stuff freezes well too so it’s not even like you have to eat everything you buy in one sitting before it goes off, not that we are going to stop you.

The average UK houshold spends £53.20 a week on food. Cutting that in half could save £319.20 a year!

7. Turn your grocery shop into a race - £1,123.20 saved a year

Everyone loves a little competition, right? What if you turned your food shopping into a race against time, and yourself? Make a list before you go, and see how quickly you can make it round the aisles, challenging yourself to beat your personal best each time. With competition as your motivation you won’t be tempted to diverge from the list and pause over any impulse offers you want but don’t strictly need.

ONS found that £13.80 of that weekly £53.20 is on sweets and treats with another £7.80 on alcoholic drinks. Cutting extras like these could reduce that weekly shop to £31.60 saving £21.60 a week or £1,123.20 a year 💰

8. Limit your loo roll consumption - £41.60 saved a year

Everyone overuses loo roll and it’s so unnecessary. Limit anyone who uses your supplies to a set number of sheets per visit to make each roll last longer. Take a sheet (get it...) from How I Met Your Mother and have anyone who stays over bring their own supply.

If all else fails, just take it from the office, everyones doing it.

The average Brit wipes away £0.80p worth of loo roll every week. That's £41.60 a year 💩

9. Coupon literally everything - £1,500 saved a year

We have all seen the programmes where people save hundreds on their shops, and how hard can it be to clip a few coupons? You could organise them all into folders, plan your shops, stockpile mayonaise the possibilities are endless.

MSE do a great guide to get you started. Some coupon pros save upwards of £5,000 a year with the average couponer saving around £1,500 🤑 Just make sure you don't end up getting things you don't need!

10. Befriend your neighbours - £??

To some of us it’s common courtesy to exchange small talk when you see the guy next door. To some of us, it’s the worst social nightmare imaginable. But, your neighbours can be a great source of stuff to borrow that saves you money when you need it, and we aren't just talking a cup or sugar or splash of milk.

Need a life to the airport? Give Linda a shout. Giving your lawn its annual mow? Borrow a mower from Terry down the street. Throwing a party? Borrow a sound system from that weird guy upstairs who thinks 4am on a Tuesday is an appropriate time to blast Justin Bieber. If you can hear it three floors away, you know they’re quality speakers!

The amount you can save here depends on your lovely neighbours but assuming you just get one lift to the airport a year, that's £50 right there. Go treat yourself to some loo roll.